Two USC students murdered near campus

A man and a woman--both USC graduate engineering students from China--were fatally shot today while sitting in a new BMW in the West Adams area near the campus, police said.

Officers sent to the 2700 block of Raymond Avenue near West 27th Street shortly after 1 a.m. found the victims suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, said Sgt. Carlton Brown of the Los Angeles Police Department's Southwest Division. Paramedics took them to a hospital, where they were pronounced dead, he said. Both victims were in their early 20s, according to the LAPD.

University officials identified the woman as Ying Wu, and the man as Ming Qu.

LAPD Cmdr. Andy Smith said the victims were sitting in a car that was double-parked on the street when they were shot. He said a motive for the crime was unclear, but it might have been a bungled carjacking, one of several possible scenarios being examined.

Investigators were working closely with USC campus police, according to Smith, who said one assailant was reported to have been seen leaving the site.The woman was slumped in the front passenger seat of the late model BMW, which was in the road, away from the curb, with blown out windows on both the driver's and passenger's side, according to reports from the scene. The man was lying on the steps of a nearby house, suggesting he managed to get out of the car before collapsing.